Little Children
by Kittfox
Summary: We were all just little children. Thinking we were immortal and living our dreams. shounen ai
1. Chapter 1

**Kittfox: I know, I know. it's just terrible for me to write another story without at least updating the rest of my fics. Ever since my borther who I have dubbed as a 'blithering idiot' infected my pc with three trojan viruses and crashed it, I'm unable to continue with my fics since all my hard written work just gone down the drain. So those who are waiting for it, I'm apologizing in advance cause I'm not updating them anytime soon. **

**Summary: We were all just little children, thinking we were immortal and following our own dreams.**

**Disclaimer:** not mine

**Little Children**

'How many years has it passed?' Sasuke looked up to his Anbu captain's back as the man gave the rest of the orders to the squad and mused. 'Two? Four? Five?' the captain turned to the side relaying a message to the other squad accompanying them by sign language. Sasuke followed him with his eyes, or to be more precise, he followed the back of his captain's light blonde head with his eyes. It had been many years since they have lost contact with the last member of team seven, seeing the back of his captain's head with it's blond hair stirs up old memories. From the beginning, Sasuke had wondered whether the captain was Naruto himself but after a few missions with him he had banished the thought and convince himself that both of them are not the same person.

The captain was too soft spoken, merely talking just above a whisper sometimes he avoids talking at all. He's cool headed, takes problems calmly and always thinks objectively rather that subjectively. He thinks right ahead and weighs the pros and cons at every decision. And while Naruto adores attention the captain has never taken off his mask or given any hints of who he might be. In whichever point, Naruto and the blond captain's behavioral patterns clashes in a point that it's an impossibility that the two could ever be one person.

He was cut out from his reverie when the captain raised the hood of his white cloak shielding him from his view of familiar light blond hair. It was a second later that the unusual porcelain mask with gold and red linings faced him. "Status report Raven."

"All is ready Captain."

The Anbu captain gave an acknowledging nod and made a hand motions signaling for them to move out. As they are reduced to nothing but black and a single piece of white blurs jumping out of the village gates, Sasuke gave himself another mental shake and focused on the mission rather than his captain's back. 'He's not him.' He convinced himself and he's determined to keep believing that but still…..sometimes he wonders.

* * *

Tsunaide sighed and rubbed her temples to chase away the incoming migraine. She took a sip from her cup of hot green tea and grimaced preferring the taste and intoxication brought by sake any day. She put her cup down and cupped her chin with her hand while her other hand played lazily with a paper balloon totally ignoring the rather high stack of paperwork at the side of her desk.

It's not like it's needed to be done immediately, the pile of documents are mostly made out of the year's academy graduates, mission reports, and whatever paperwork that blasted assistant of hers and devil jounins & chunins would bring to her she would rather not dwell on.

While yes, despite the large amount of work that is placed on her table can be done in a few hours or maybe in a few minutes she would rather put those aside to be done much later. She believed on play now and work later thank you very much.

Her thoughts strayed in a different direction when her trail of vision dwindled at the stack of paperwork of academy graduates. 'It would be good for him.' She thought as she leaned back to the chair picking up a random document at her fingers in the process. She put her feet up the table and grumbled her curses again wondering on how the '_brat'_ ( or so she has affectionately dubbed him) managed to put her in a position such as this. Her hands absently folding a paper crane of the document at her hand which she highly suspect is another form from one of the pompous nobles asking for the most ridiculous and absurd things, she contemplated on just burning the whole stack of trouble before her assistant Shizune would come and ruin her fun. Not that she could do much but reprimand her anyway, she stifled a yawn and flicked the paper crane carelessly away adding it to the already growing pile of origami at the corner of the room. She rolled off her shoulders and stretched of her neck, picking up the first form from the work pile, she decided to work for a change, besides she could already hear the sound of footsteps getting near.

Later on she would be again be found sleeping over the piles of papers, getting them wet with her drool. It was also be later on the Shizune would come and wake her and nag her at the lack of work she has done ultimately leading for her assistant to do it herself while she, Tsunaide, would just smile and nod (in a guilty sort of way) yet let her do the work. Shizune _is_ her assistant by the way.

* * *

"Status report." His superior's voice going through a bit of static yet came out as clear as ever. Sasuke looked over at the squad he's temporarily been given command and answered back at the radio strapped on his ear. "Two fatal and one minor. It is already being tended for Captain."

While he could not see his superior, he could imagine the captain nodding. "And you?"

Sasuke delayed a second before answering. "Operational." Which was the truth. "I see… assemble the squad and meet me with the rest at 230 degrees north at the lagoon and Raven?"

"Yes captain?"

"Get yourself tended."

"Copy that captain." With that the connection was cut. Sasuke waited patiently as the medic nin in their group finished patching up the last of the injured of his squad before letting the medic tend his belly wound. As the greenish glow from the medic bathe him, he couldn't help but feel disappointed and frustrated at himself for getting himself and the rest of the squad injured. While the possibility of actually returning alive was slim to none, he had suspicions that the captain would have done his share of the mission flawlessly. He gritted his teeth whether from pain or frustration he could not differ, he stood up and gave the orders to move out.

They traveled beyond normal human speed, coming out in blurs. He now stood in front of his superior taking account that the man had encountered no major difficulties by the looks of his clothing and the way he stood. What else can Sasuke expect from Konoha's living legend?

* * *

"No."

Tsunaide has her head supported by one of her hands by the table while the other danced along a scroll placed on her table. She smirked. "I'm afraid you fail to understand me captain. What I offered wasn't a suggestion neither is a request but a direct order."

Eyes behind a porcelain masks narrowed. Tsunaide rose up to her seat and made her way around the table so she stood in front of him.

"What's the reason for this hokage-sama?"

"Reason? Do I need to have one?" her smirk widened when she saw him tense. "I don't think you have earned the right to question orders from your superiors captain." She held out a hand expectant.

"…"

"Your mask captain?"

Slowly his hands raised and moved to the back of his head to untie the knot that held his mask in place. The mask fell only to be caught by a waiting hand. Tsunaide snorted and placed the mask almost carelessly on the table. "You don't need to be so dramatic about it." She said as she took note of his changes.

She raised her hand to cup his chin, her thumb stroking his cheek. 'He has grown up.' The whisker marks along his cheeks have almost faded, reduced to nothing but thin fine lines. His once golden blond hair had faded in color as he grew to age, now more in the combination of yellow white. His hair cut cleanly and properly by the ears and the little bit of length by the back is tied neatly to a small ponytail yet his bangs had grown long almost obscuring his eyes. Eyes that had grown more narrowly, almond shaped and their blue irises much lighter than she remembered. As she made her observation he remained stonily in place, his face giving no hint of emotion whatsoever. Nothing but a perfect poker face. She paid closer attention to his eyes, what his face lacked is carried by those orbs. They seem to glow with inner light, pieces of him mish mashed together that it is impossible to name and pick one from the other.

She thumbed his cheek again, a little wistful. 'He's not a little boy anymore. He has grown up….grown up handsomely.' At that thought she felt her eye twitched. She closed her eyes and moved her hand and hit him at the side of his head almost making him fall which he had faired better than others had who had gone through the wall.

She moved back, crossed her arms over her chest and sat at the edge of the table with an irritated fashion, annoyed at herself for making him relinquish his mask this late.

"Oi! What the hell was that for you old hag!" His eyes flashed for a moment before once again it dimmed. Naruto rubbed the side of his painful head gently, his left ear had already gone red.

"Brat." She muttered under her breath. "So, what are you going to do now?" He straightened himself up and raised an eyebrow. "Do what you ordered. What else?"

"I know that. You know what I mean." She snapped. He grew silent for a moment before shrugging. "I admit, it may cause…complications but it's not like I care what they think anyway. I never hid who I was, I was just fulfilling my duty." Tsunaide sighed and stood up, she picked up the scroll on her table held it out to him. "You have your orders. You're dismissed."

Naruto bowed as took the scroll in his hands, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Tsunaide turned and looked out the window, thoughtful. 'That's just it, you stopped caring at all.' She rubbed her temples and made her way back to her seat contemplating on the mask that rests on the surface of the table. "…….You stupid brat."

* * *

It felt weird. Naruto thought himself as he walked through crowded streets a few hours later after meeting the hokage now on his jounin vest. He refused to remove the Anbu black sleeveless shirt though instead put on a long sleeved low necked dark blue shirt over it resulting for him to wear three upper overalls in total. Not that he minded, even though it is high summer the air brushing against his skin is chilly. What bothers him though is the lack of presence of his mask, he feels bare without it. The only place her remembers he ever took it off was in the safety of his apartment.

'It's going to take time to get used to.' He raised the flap of the general store's doorway and entered, picking up a basket along the way. 'It would have been easier,' he contemplated as he leafed through the products by the shelves, absentmindedly picking up a tray of chicken eggs and depositing it on the basket as he goes by. 'It's not that I mind but it would have been more efficient…" He made a move to pick up a carton of milk, pausing as he took note of the price and went for another brand.

'All that unnecessary scene,' he wondered if he could avoid it. He opened a fridge and took out five cans of beer and closed it with his foot. Certainly a few of them would react, some of them were the people he knew since childhood. Most of his batch taken the exam and passed the Anbu.

Naruto tries to predict how would they react as he waited at cashier line ignorant of the looks he's receiving. He wouldn't be surprised if Bird already knew him. Despite the guy's respect for privacy he would have been curious, and it is unavoidable, not with that bloodline of his.

He stared blankly at the cashier woman, looking at her but not actually seeing her. He sighed and passed one of his groceries at the red laser when the woman doesn't seem to move to do so.

_Beep._

Startled female hands stopped him and took after where he left off. "ah…S…Sorry." He took note that she seemed red at her cheeks and dismissed it. She raised her head and squeaked, blushing furiously when she saw him staring at her. She let her head fall back down and continued her duties, what she didn't realize was that he wasn't looking at her or anyone at all but through her.

As soon as she bagged them, Naruto picked up his groceries and strode out not hearing the shy call of the woman of 'thank you and come back again.'

Naruto walked back to the streets and head home squashing all thoughts at the same. He opened his front door. Whatever it is, he thought, he'll just have to go for it and take the plunge tomorrow. He collapsed on his sofa, propped his feet up the coffee table and he pressed up on cold can of beer on his forehead in hopes to chase away the incoming headache.

* * *

Tsunaide sighed, a slight smile on her lips as she put her pen down. She rolled her neck and eased her back at the chair. "Ji-rai-ya. You could come out now." She called out in a singsong voice. A shadow moved and emerged with the combination of colors of red, white, and green. "Still haven't changed eh Tsunaide-_hime_? Laying off the work till last minute."

Tsunaide's eyes narrowed to happy crescents as she grinned like a minx. "Look who's talking, I've been getting reports of you terrorizing the baths. Pervert"

Jiraiya only chuckled. His hand is formed in a loose clenched vertical fist and making a familiar movement. He cocked his head to the side. Tsunaide smiled and pushed her chair standing up. She put on her green robe and followed the man out for a drink.

**……...**

"Haaaa….That feels so good!" Tsunaide exhaled long, her cheeks a little flushed from liquor. Jiraiya laughed and refilled her empty cup with sake and ordered another plate of breaded fried radishes.

"So…what brings you back here?"

Jiraiya took a gulp from his shot glass and refilled the cup. "Business what else? Women here are always the best." She snorted. "Pervert." There was stretch of silence, broken when the sound of platter of food was placed on the table.

"…How is he Tsunaide?"

Tsunaide closed her eyes for a moment before opening them, she poured herself another cup and held it up, her elbows supported by the table. "I don't know who you are talking about jiraiya."

"You know very well who I was talking about. How's the brat?"

She moved the cup at her hand staring down at its contents as it swirled. "He's fine." She said before downing the sake to her throat. "There's nothing wrong with him, a little stone hearted but it's normal." At that remark Jiraiya watched her at the edge of his eyes as he picked up his food with his chopsticks, eating. Tsunaide continue to look blankly forward before sighing and pouring herself another cup of sake.

"I heard that you removed him from being an Anbu."

She laughed dryly. "You were listening in?" the question came out more like a statement. She rested her chin with her hands as she contemplated over her drink. "Naruto…has grown up now. He's an adult and he could take care of himself just fine."

"…"

"I guess it's just me wishing he could return to that cheeky little boy we met so many years ago. But there's no helping it. The moment he took that exam and passed, he was bound to grow up faster than his peers. Added to his background, he was due to mature earlier anyway." She took a sip from her drink, "How are things going outside?"

Jiraiya laid down his chopsticks at the now clean platter and folded his arms to his chest, serious. "There was a fallout from the west. Apparently Akatsuki had encountered another organization of missing nins. From what my sources have gathered, the leader of this organization is another Jinchuraku."

"So which won?"

Jiraiya grinned. "No one. They clashed and nearly decimated all the surroundings but both groups retreated. For now they are too busy licking their wounds to pose any threat. However, there is one thing that bothers me though…" He reached something inside of his clothes and placed an object to the table sliding it towards her. "Do you know what this is?"

She turned her trained eyes and examined the object. It was made out of metal, it has a lengthy tube and a small circular thing under it with a small trigger. There are other more things attached to the object that she could barely describe in words other than Thingamajig. The thing was baffling. There was nothing to describe it but…thing.

"I thought so. It's called a pistol. The new kind of weapon invented from the west. There are much larger versions of it but this also carries the same power." He dismantled the thing to produce a small lump of lead hidden inside it. "Apparently this thing is powered by blackpowder, the same thing we use in making fire crackers. Because of it this piece of metal is pushed to move from here, to the tube then out in a rapid speed piercing anything in it's path."

"…How fast?"

With this question his face grew grim. "Milliseconds, almost impossible for even the most experienced shinobi to evade. The longer the tube is the faster and more powerful it gets." Tsunaide's features darkened, disgusted at the piece of monstrosity created by human hands. She picked up the cold metal feeling it. Her eyes narrowed as she pocketed it inside her robes and gave a nod to her drinking companion. "Find out where it's produced and how to counter it will you Jiraiya?… I… don't expect you to be able to stop its production, not with already so many of them with the knowledge on how to make it but can you at least find a way to neutralize it?"

He gave her a lopsided smile. "Who do you think you are talking to?" She rolled her eyes and made a soft smile of her own. "It is because it's you that is why I'm asking."

"Hey!"

She took the sake bottle and filled his cup. "Thanks anyway." She held up her cup and drank what was left of its contents, he didn't say anything but smirked and drank from his own.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for the reviews. Please read, enjoy and Review.**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine.**

**Little children**

"A formal inauguration eh?" Naruto tossed the piece of parchment carelessly behind his shoulder and flopped down unceremoniously at his bed. His left hand pillowing his head while his right hand raised up facing the ceiling, open palmed and fingers spread apart. He look beyond the spaces of his fingers absently all the while thinking of everything and nothing at the same time.

For six straight years these calloused hands did nothing but destroy and kill. And now I'm not going to be able to do that…well as often as I had before. He thought to himself. He turned his hand so that his palm is facing his vision.

The path to become a hokage. Somehow it doesn't seem to get any nearer. He let his hand fall to cover his eyes. Does he even want it anymore? Now that he had the strength and acknowledgement no longer ranking high at his list, he doesn't know. What left is there?

_Iruka-sensei…_

For some reason he felt the sudden childish urge to see his old teacher from the academy days. That man… he thought wistfully and bit nostalgia, has all the world's life answers stocked right at his back pocket. For as long as he had remembered him, Naruto always approached the man seeking questions and companionship, he find it quite hard to imagine not to do so even now or in the future. Technically he could but life for him would be terribly lonely if the man would cease to exist.

_It has been many years. Will he even recognize me?_

Of course he would!

"….."

Well, 70 of him think so but the rest of him is in doubt. There is always a possibility that he wouldn't be recognized or yet, remembered. He has changed. He's the first to admit that. Not only physically but socially as well. He just couldn't hold a proper conversation anymore. He had to get knocked up in the side of his head to answer like he had used to the old hag. _Cursing and calling names couldn't be accounted as a conversation could they?_ At this he was genuinely confused. And just like all subjects that confused him, Naruto shoved this to the furthest corner of his mind either to be forgotten or solved on later.

He hates complicating things. He rolled from the comfort of his bed and stood up picking up an unblemished scroll, a pen and began to write. Maybe hate is too strong for a word. He thought. Strong dislike fits much better.

Meeting the squad tomorrow and having (but not required to) explain himself is a complication. Plus he has an inauguration to attend to. "Inauguration…" he paused in his writing briefly and tasted the word. Somehow he has also found himself disliking the word.

_Maybe I should go there today?_

He finished the scrolled and rolled it back up, placing his pen down at the bedside table. He looked outside the window to see the sun just about setting. Yeah, he would visit there today, he just have a lot of thoughts needed to be sorted. Maybe later he would pass by Ichiraku and pick up a take out and stop by his old sensei. _If he doesn't remember me then maybe ramen would jolt down his memory. I somehow almost always eat up his payroll. _At this thought a small smile crawled up to his lips.

………………………………..

He stood unmoving in front of a gravestone with an almost serene expression on his face as he simply let himself think. To say the least, becoming the best and being the best of all the Anbu force isn't much of a big thing. Like a hallow victory or like a strong acidic solution getting dissolved when touched in the water, being the best for Naruto left him feeling empty. Void, numb, lost, call it to whatever poetic form if you will but he could neither feel proud nor disgusted nor any other kind of emotion even if he reminisced his times at the battlefield. Like a passing memory that held no importance, flashes of what was yesterday perfect in every aspect stored inside his head went and drifted in his thoughts like the same flashes of scenery and events on a television.

Naruto uttered a soft prayer as he gazed the gravestone. "Tatsumaru ….Captain…" He touched the cold stone with his hands, feeling the rough edges and letting his warm flesh be cooled.

Back then when he first got the news that he would join the Anbu he was ecstatic. Never minding that he was forced in that position or that he wasn't made to take up the exam because the mission itself was that he was ordered to be put into the squad, he was… happy and excited, to join for the single reason that he found the force just plain '_Cool.'_ Everything from their masks, to their clothing, to their missions…everything. He found them _'cool'_ like all other boys in his age. He chuckled at his naivety as he sat down to the ground facing the stone yet not really looking at it instead he just sat and think and remembered.

Captain Tatsumaru alias _wolf_ was his squad leader and also was known for the best anbu at his time. He was… a very brutal man training them who gave no leeway whatsoever, disregarding Naruto's status as a mere child or a vessel like a piece of information not worth knowing or caring about. He didn't know it back then until he had heard it from the hokage herself that the man was also his sponsor and he fought with the hokage to make him an Anbu.

"_He would make a exceptional Anbu and it would provide him the cover he needs."_

_Tsunade slammed her fist to the table making it break into two. "He's just a child! He's a…"_

"_A shinobi and therefore should not be confused as anything else just by his features and his age." Tatsumaru smoothed in. "Excuse me for my lack of respect Hokage-sama but you had heard him earlier. He wants this."_

"_He had no idea of what he wants. He hasn't even killed yet" The Godaime raised her chin and looked down on the man her eyes flashing dangerously. _

"_And he would learn to do so in what maybe a few years or a few months, or in a few hours. Time would not change anything, He. Will. Learn." Tatsumaru remarked unusually stern. "Godaime-sama, he is an asset not reaching his full potential and left to mold and eat dust." He added dryly yet still somewhat politely. _

_Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "Making him a killing machine would do so?" a rhetorical question, though loathing to admit it, putting Naruto into the force would answer a lot of the current problems. _

_At this Tatsumaru chuckled lowly without humor. "Aren't we all"?_

"_Che. Why am I even listening to you anyway." She waved a dismissing hand. "Go torture somebody or something. I'll send him to you anytime this week." _

Training to become an Anbu was hell even for Naruto who most often would pass out due to fatigue from over training. But on the battlefield where all training was either put into use or risk death was worse.

Naruto had no illusions of death, in fact it was put back in the farthest corner of his mind. He was a vessel of a demon, he had unlimited charka, he heals in seconds and he had his almost inhumane stamina. No, he had no illusions of death but when it was in the battlefield everything became different. Different when he was a genin fighting bandits, different when he was fighting alongside his genin team, and different when Sasuke had tried to kill him once.

It was a mission gone dreadfully wrong, one stumble and misstep from the other rookie anbus and it led them to their down fall. They were sent to spy enemy territory growing in rapidly in power. Though it had been a long time, Naruto could remember and continue to remember like it was mere hours ago. The year was 87 S.U, the 15th of December and it was the incident that largely contributed to what he is today.

Everything had started okay, it was his first mission and it was also his exam. He was restless, a bundle of nerves with too much nervous energy. They had worn white clothing in contrast to their usual black suits and cloaks to blend in with the season. Tatsumaru aka _wolf_ is their group commander leading them to their mission. To gather information and find weakness at the enemy defenses. It was a time of war but to Naruto he had yet to feel it.

Maybe it was his fault, maybe it was other's but how everything came spiraling down was pure accident. Paper explosives concealed expertly beneath where they tread, outnumbered by overwhelming numbers, he was reminded of his mortality when one of the squad members mistakenly triggered the explosive making them lose several members from the squad as well as setting an alarm for the enemy shinobis.

It was crazy and chaotic, it was war. It left him rattling to his very core seeing pieces of bloody and burnt limbs flying around him. When what resembled a body landed on top of him he had screamed his head off. _"get of me! Get off me! No. NO!"_ He had always pegged himself as the most courageous of his age group, but seeing and being landed upon bodies of the people he had became friends with in short amount of time made him, Uzumaki Naruto flee. Honor, pride, and all other bravado he had expressed years, no, hours and minutes before are sapped away. He would be a fool if he said that he wasn't scared when Tatsumaru turned him by his shoulder and barked an order for him to fight. With every swipe of the kunai, every body that would fall, every jutsu that he would make, every rasengan he would bury to his foe's chest, he screamed and screamed and screamed like a horrified and terrified child that he was until his voice grew hoarse and faded in the background mingling with all the other noise. It was far too easy for him to forget his assets, the fast healing and all the other stuff about him that made him different from others, he was vulnerable and all too human. Naruto had no illusions of death, they are reality and he was reminded by the fact time and time again.

It was also then through the haze of blood and gore he had managed to stumble upon a technique that managed to end the war and made him known as Konoha's killing puppet. Not that he's boasting. (definitely not.) It was a technique he had used almost a million times yet improvised a hundred fold. The already powerful rasengan had evolved unconsciously that day. By compressing the sphere of charka till a size of a small marble and yet continue exerting and adding more charka and covering it with a layer of the demon's energy to stabilize and enable him to actually hold the sphere like an inanimate solid. Naruto had created a charka based bomb that wiped out 3/4ths of the village. (like an A bomb) the slightest release of the charka inside the sphere, like the thin layer of red charka covering the blue breaking or disturbed would cause an immediate and definite large scale explosion. Naruto hadn't meant for it to happen yet in the end it didn't really matter, they had managed to win the war on their own.

Out of the many rookies only three had been left. Him, the squad commander and another veteran. It was the saddest and bloodiest inauguration he had and probably will ever receive in his entire life.

The whole thing he did, was kept in a hush. Instead it was told that the village leader, the kage was a crazy man that had led the village to ruins. Maybe it was a favor, or Tsunade took pity on him but he was grateful. He had clutched his cloak tighter around him with the hood covering his head as he cried silently behind his mask and tried to be invisible.

The aftermath was the worst, when they got back and reported to the hokage he could not tear away his thoughts of death and the invisible blood that coated his hands which was washed furiously away before. He was only granted a night of restless slumber by the next day they have another mission to hunt a band of wayward missing nins. Over and over again, it was a cycle that back then he could do nothing but feel the guilt, disgust, fear, self loathing and increasing loneliness as the numbers of his comrades/friends dwindled and be replaced by the next day by a new batch of rookie Anbus . He could not understand why his squad leader, Tatsumaru, would keep on getting this kind of missions when the man himself seem bone tired of doing them. And it was later on that he understood why in a very Narutoish fashion.

Killing is like a plate of broccoli that you must consume every dinner. Nobody likes it yet over the time either you start liking it or you get used to it. You put cheese on it, you garnish it, you cook it. Killing is the same, no matter what method you use it would end up with the same results. There's no need to be poetic or be idealistic about the issue. There's no, _"you shouldn't get used to that. It's bad." _Or _"It's so horrible that you should get used to such thing at that age."_ It is almost an unspoken rule to kill when you take up the profession of a ninja. There's no age limits, no matter how one's conscience would tear you apart on such thing you would get used to it. It was reality.

But he's straying off the story. Naruto's captain is the kind of man who would kill their own squad member if the said so member would put the entire squad in risk. If killing almost the whole team of anbu would hasten the war then so be it. Despite the man's harshness, Naruto always held Tatsumaru to his highest regard, he was a man who always thought for the good of the whole squad and also maybe because the man treated him no different than the first day they had met. He had respected him, honored him but he felt no love for him. But as time passed, it was almost inevitable that he would not form some sort of admiration to the man like a young boy to his older brother. It was the tight nit camaraderie forged through many trials that led him to visit the man's grave today as well as every month.

_I guess I'm going to do this more often now that I have more time in my hands._

Naruto stood up and gave a final glance at the grave before leaving. The sun has already died and a few stars dotted the already dark skies. The street lamps just starting to come to life giving illumination at the road he treads, Naruto silently contemplated what kind of ramen he would get.

* * *

Iruka sighed as he put his pen down and slumped down to his seat simply melting on it. He pinched the bridge of his nose and cast a fleeting glance at the papers still needed to be graded.

The other chunins had already left leaving him to sort out the paperwork. Not like they made him to, it's just the task he willingly took on himself. He caught himself smiling. As much as how the children make him experience head aches, sleep deprivation, and often times the case of losing his voice. He wouldn't change it any other way. Teaching is a job he grew to love.

He held a steaming cup of coffee at his hands and took a sip his vision zeroing on the picture frame at the edge of his table and made a smile of nostalgia. From there, a largely grinning face of a young whiskered blond and his own imitation answered him.

_I wonder how he is…_

He placed the cup down and shook his head cutting himself from his reverie. He shifted the documents and returned back to work. Or would have if not for the soft three knocks on the door pulling his attention. "Yes, come in." He called though internally wondering who could be possibly be it, coming at the academy at this hour of the night.

The door opened revealing an achingly familiar blond with a neutral expression. "Yo. Iruka-sensei." The chunnin rose up to his seat. "Ano…can I help you?" He asked at the same time furiously trying to figure out why the blond seems so familiar.

The neutral face broke to a small smile bordering to a smirk. "Your age must be catching up to you sensei for you to forget me."

"Excuse me!"

The blond only tilted his head to the side as he brought up a plastic bag with two containers inside into view. "I brought some ramen. Though you're paying next time."

At this the brown haired chunin blinked and suddenly something clicked. He finally took notice of the almost faded scars on the blond man's cheeks, the seemingly glowing blue eyes and the yellow whitish hair. Unsure and almost unbelieving, "Naruto?" He asked softly almost scared to hear the man's answer.

"It's been a long time sensei."


End file.
